The risky business of chicken and pig farms in Canada

By Jan Hajek | Opinion | May 27th 2022

Chicken farms with tens of thousands of birds crowded together play key roles in amplifying influenza viruses. Photo by shutterstock

Avian influenza, carried by migrating wild birds, has swept across Canada. The outbreak has been especially concerning to owners and operators of large chicken farms.

Ask an expert what level of risk this avian flu outbreak poses for human health and they will likely say the risk is low.

Ask that same expert what the chances are for another influenza pandemic in the next few years and they will likely say the risk is high. A common statement is that the question of another influenza pandemic is a matter of “when, not if.” And although there is a degree of unpredictability, it is of critical concern that our next pandemic is being hastened by our use of animals susceptible to influenza, especially chickens and pigs.

Chicken farms with tens of thousands of birds crowded together play key roles in amplifying influenza viruses. The regular contact with humans adds the additional element of spillovers and transmission of these viruses between humans and chickens.

As a global community, we are now raising and slaughtering over 70 billion chickens per year. The numbers are staggering and are continuing to increase as farms are getting bigger and more concentrated. Over the last 10 years, the number of chickens raised on commercial farms for food in Canada has increased by 30 per cent.

The animal agriculture industry, and government officials in positions dedicated to the support of the industry, may naturally seek to distance themselves from the pandemic risks. During the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, testing for influenza on pig farms actually went down. Sensationalizing and fearmongering are not appropriate, but even those dead set on continuing to increase the scale of chicken farming need to reckon with the pandemic risks.

In expecting and preparing for the next pandemic, institutions are putting resources into the development of vaccines and antivirals. There are also calls for more surveillance on chicken farms — of the animals and the workers. These are important initiatives. However, there is disproportionately little support for the development of alternatives and scaling back the staggering and increasing number of animals confined on farms and used for food or fur.

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By Max Fawcett | Opinion, Politics | May 25th 2022

Choosing to buy chicken meat at a store or restaurant is safe and low risk in terms of getting influenza from the animal’s flesh. But, insofar as it contributes to the support and further growth of this industry, it does increase our risks for the next influenza pandemic.

Consider climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming — one person driving their car to the store, or one small coal plant, is a low risk and could be characterized as almost negligible. But put them all together and we have an impending disaster. There may be more unpredictability when it comes to infectious diseases, but the pandemic risks related to our current uses of animals are similar — something that unchecked will not end well for us.

Despite cultural and economic benefits for many individuals in China, there has been broad support to curb the wildlife trade and live animal markets based on the health risks they pose. The risks related to chicken and pig farms in Canada are quantitatively different, but they do carry serious public health risks.

Opinion: There may be more unpredictability when it comes to infectious diseases, but the pandemic risks related to our current uses of animals may not end well for us, writes Jan Hajek @ahoysvet. #influenza #pandemic #coronaviruses #factoryfarming

There are no risk-free situations in terms of infectious diseases and our food supply. However, the production of some foods clearly poses higher risks than others. There is a lot of processing and many hazards involved in raising animals like chickens and pigs for food on a massive scale. Alternatives do exist, including plant-based foods and lab-grown and cultured meats. We need to include a reduction in chicken consumption and genuine support for safer alternatives in our influenza pandemic prevention plans.

Jan Hajek is an infectious diseases specialist at the Vancouver General Hospital and a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. He worked in Toronto during SARS, in Newfoundland during the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic, in West Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and this past year has worked on the COVID ward at Vancouver General Hospital.

May 27th 2022

Jan Hajek
@ahoysvet

UK

Crowd gathers outside Downing Street to protest treatment of cleaners during Partygate

United Voices of the World (UVW) organised the demonstration outside Downing Street in light of Sue Gray's Partygate report which revealed the "unacceptable" treatment of government cleaners and security staff

Cleaners staged a protest outside Downing Street on Friday 

(Image: PA)

By Ryan Merrifield

News Reporter

mirror.co.uk

 27 May 2022

Demonstrators have gathered outside Downing Street to protest against the "outrageous" treatment of government cleaners and security during Partygate.

Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray has lifted the lid on the behaviour of Boris Johnson and his staff behind-closed-doors during the Covid pandemic.

And that includes the lockdown-busting gatherings, as well as the "acceptable" treatment of the cleaners and custodians who uncovered law-breaking parties.

She said they were left feeling "unable to raise properly" their concerns.

United Voices of the World (UVW), a union which represents cleaners and security guards in Government buildings arranged Friday's demonstration, which started at 5.30pm.

The union wants to raise awareness of the culture of disrespect towards low-paid workers, such as cleaners and security guards, in Government buildings and offices across London.

A protestor holds up a sign encouraging drivers to beep their horns (Image: REUTERS)

The group has also worked to highlight the death of Emanuel Gomes, a father who was an outsourced cleaner in the Ministry of Justice and died in April 2020 after working for five days with suspected Covid symptoms.

He believed he could not afford to lose income.

It comes after the Prime Minister apologised to security and cleaning staff for their appalling treatment at events he insisted he had “no knowledge” of, saying he was “surprised and disappointed” to hear about them.

Owen Jones speaking during the demonstration (Image: PA)

This included the infamous Christmas party on December 18, 2020 where dozens gathered for a raucous knees-up in No10 resulting in cleaners finding evidence of heavy drinking, as well as wine splattered up the wall, according to Ms Gray's report.

Petros Elia, UVW general secretary, said: “We’re not in the least bit surprised by the revelations in the Sue Gray report.

"We have thousands of members who work as cleaners and security guards and these workers face disrespect and discrimination on a daily basis in offices and government buildings across London, not just in Downing Street.

Images of Emanuel Gomes were also used in the protest (Image: PA)

“It is outrageous to have rowdy and illegal parties during the pandemic but to then expect cleaners to mop up after you and to pay them, as well as porters and security guards, poverty wages and deny them full sick pay is abhorrent.

“Most of the cleaners and security guards out there are ethnic minority workers, Black, brown and migrant people, who are disproportionately impacted by poor working conditions and racialised inequalities.

Cleaners to stage protest outside Downing Street over partygate treatment

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The revelations in Sue Gray's report about how cleaning staff were treated has set this protest in motion (PA)

A protest is to be held outside Downing Street today (Friday, May 27) amid growing anger over revelations in the ‘partygate’ report over the way cleaners and security staff were treated.

Sue Gray said in her report that she learned of multiple examples of “unacceptable” treatment of security and cleaning staff during her investigation.

She wrote: “I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.

“I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable.”

Staff members “drank excessively” at the Downing Street Christmas party on December 18 2020, and a cleaner found red wine was spilled on one wall the next morning, the report said.

Sue Gray's report revealed that cleaning staff had been treated badly (PA)

United Voices of the World (UVW), a union that represents cleaners and security guards in government buildings, has called the protest outside Downing Street.

The union said it was protesting against the culture of disrespect towards low-paid workers, such as cleaners and security guards, in government buildings and offices across London.

Petros Elia, UVW general secretary, said: “We’re not in the least bit surprised by the revelations in the Sue Gray report. We have thousands of members who work as cleaners and security guards and these workers face disrespect and discrimination on a daily basis in offices and government buildings across London, not just in Downing Street.

“It is outrageous to have rowdy and illegal parties during the pandemic but to then expect cleaners to mop up after you and to pay them, as well as porters and security guards, poverty wages and deny them full sick pay is abhorrent.

“Most of the cleaners and security guards out there are ethnic minority workers, Black, brown and migrant people, who are disproportionately impacted by poor working conditions and racialised inequalities.

“We represent cleaners at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) who had to walk off the job during the pandemic because they were not given adequate PPE and were denied full sick pay, which they eventually won for Covid-19 absences."

A leading official of the cleaning industry is calling for a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary over the way cleaning staff were treated at 10 Downing Street.

Jim Melvin, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said he was “appalled and upset” at revelations in Sue Gray’s partygate report.

Cleaners and security staff to protest against ‘culture of disrespect’ at Downing Street

Harrison Jones

METRO UK

Thursday 26 May 2022 

Cleaners cleared up vomit and red wine after parties in Number 10, Sue Gray’s report found 

(Picture: Reuters/ITV)

Cleaners and security staff are set to protest outside Downing Street tomorrow in disgust at their colleagues’ treatment by those at the top of Government.

A union which represents those workers in government buildings, United Voices of the World (UVW), has called the demonstration against what it calls a culture of disrespect to low-paid workers.

It comes amid growing anger at revelations in Sue Gray’s partygate report, which uncovered repeated examples of ‘unacceptable treatment’ of cleaning and security workers during her investigation into lockdown-breaching parties.

She wrote: ‘I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.

‘I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable.’

The report, which has led to four Conservative MPs calling on Boris Johnson to resign today, spelt out in grim detail the scale of rule breaking inside Number 10 during the Covid crisis.

Staff members ‘drank excessively’ at the Downing Street Christmas party on December 18 2020, and a cleaner found red wine was spilled on one wall the next morning, the report said.

The Sue Gray report has led to further calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign (Picture: Reuters)

The UVW said it was protesting against the culture of disrespect towards low-paid workers, such as cleaners and security guards, in government buildings and offices across London.

General secretary Petros Elia explained: ‘We’re not in the least bit surprised by the revelations in the Sue Gray report. We have thousands of members who work as cleaners and security guards and these workers face disrespect and discrimination on a daily basis in offices and government buildings across London, not just in Downing Street.

‘It is outrageous to have rowdy and illegal parties during the pandemic but to then expect cleaners to mop up after you and to pay them, as well as porters and security guards, poverty wages and deny them full sick pay is abhorrent.

‘Most of the cleaners and security guards out there are ethnic minority workers, Black, brown and migrant people, who are disproportionately impacted by poor working conditions and racialised inequalities.’

He continued: ‘We represent cleaners at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) who had to walk off the job during the pandemic because they were not given adequate PPE and were denied full sick pay, which they eventually won for Covid-19 absences.

‘One of our members who worked as a cleaner at the MoJ tragically died an untimely and avoidable death. That’s how far the levels of disrespect and mistreatment went and goes towards low paid workers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have personally apologised to Number 10 cleaning staff following the report.

But a leading official from the cleaning industry is now also calling for a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary about the issue.

Jim Melvin, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said he was ‘appalled and upset’ at the revelations.



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Now he has written to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, saying: ‘At a time when many cleaning and hygiene operational staff, arguably as frontline workers, were putting themselves directly at risk to maintain high standards of hygiene and ensure that key workers and the public were kept as safe as possible during the pandemic, it is absolutely appalling and upsetting to hear that they were being treated with such contempt by people who may sit within Government or the Civil Service and who frankly should know better.

‘It is our position that cleaning and hygiene operatives are hardworking, professional and deserve to be respected in their vital work, just like anyone one else and certainly how the people concerned would expect to be treated.’

He continued: ‘For further clarification and information, in some parts of the cleaning industry, the demand for increased standards of hygiene during the pandemic has combined with severe staff shortages to drive many colleagues close to breaking point.

‘What cleaning staff need is support and recognition from the Government and Civil Service, not to be treated with any level of disrespect.’

FTSE rises despite weight of windfall tax on oil companies

PA CITY STAFF

27 May 2022,



Markets ended the week on another high as strong showings for many of London’s financial stocks offset a drop sparked by the new windfall tax.

By the end of the day the index had gained 0.3%, a rise of 20.54 points to 7,585.46.

It is its highest point since the early days of the month, and the index has now gained more than 400 points since its low point on May 12.

“It’s been a decent week of gains for markets in Europe, with the FTSE 100 enjoying a particularly strong performance, on course for its best week in over two months,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

He said shares in some of the country’s biggest retailers had been helped by Thursday’s package of support that will put hundreds of extra pounds in the pockets of households across the country.

“Having had a bit more time to dissect yesterday’s windfall tax announcement from the UK Government, we’ve seen further weakness in the UK oil and gas sector.

“While BP and Shell shares have held up quite well, they are still down today, after BP said it would review all of its investment in the UK and North Sea, which could well lead Shell to do the same thing.”

But it was worse for Harbour Energy, a major producer of oil from the North Sea which only operates in the UK.

Its shares ended at the bottom of the FTSE, down more than 10%. EnQuest and Seriva Energy also slid on the news of the extra 25% tax hit they will be facing.

“We’re also seeing weakness in the UK grid and power suppliers over concerns they could be next in line for some form of levy, with SSE, Centrica and National Grid all falling back for the second day in a row, and down on the week,” Mr Hewson said.

In Europe the Dax index rose 1.6% while the Cac 40 was up 1.7%. On Wall Street the S&P 500 had gained 1.8% and the Dow Jones was up 1.1% shortly after European markets had closed.

The pound was down 0.03% against two major rivals and could buy 1.2611 dollars or 1.1773 euros at the end of the day.

In company news Stagecoach will buy the east London bus business of Kelsian Group for £20 million.

The business said that the deal includes a depot at the Lea Interchange. It will pay £10 million up front and then £1 million per year for a decade after that.

It will mean Stagecoach taking over 11 contracts with Transport for London and the 150 buses it uses. Turnover for the business is around £38 million per year.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 49p to 794.8p, Ocado, up 43p to 901.4p, Experian, up 87p to 2,695p, Ashtead, up 104p to 4,120p, and Halma, up 54p to 336.6p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Harbour Energy, down 46.1p to 382.1p, ITV, down 2.8p to 70.64p, Pearson, down 14.8p to 742.8p, Royal Mail, down 6.3p to 321p, and National Grid, down 22.5p to 1,164p.

US must lead on decarbonizing international financing for development projects

BY REP. JARED HUFFMAN (D-CALIF.), OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 05/27/22
CONGRESS BLOG

The recent 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report offered a dire warning from the world’s top scientists about the consequences of climate inaction: Climate change is killing the planet and we are not prepared. And the truth is, we are running out of time to curb the destructive effects already seen in our communities at home and around the globe, let alone avoid the catastrophic events on the horizon.

One of the most troubling sectors where the funding for climate-destroying fossil fuels continues unchecked is international fossil fuel financing for development projects, particularly in the transportation sector. As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund leaders gathered for the Spring Meetings, clean energy advocates urged them to end their investments in transportation projects that fund internal combustion engines that burn fossil fuels.

The numbers speak for themselves: of the World Bank’s 216 public sector transportation projects approved from 2017 through 2021, $77 billion was for projects supporting internal combustion engine vehicles and infrastructure that make the climate crisis worse. Less than $1 billion was approved for zero-emissions vehicles.

While the transportation sector is just one sizable piece of a larger ecosystem dependent on fossil fuels — international financial institutions (IFIs) play a significant role in fueling the problem. As one of the largest shareholders at the IFIs, the U.S. has significant influence to push the institutions to end their support for fossil fuel investments, which would have a worthwhile impact on total greenhouse gas emissions.

These uneven investments can’t continue to be the norm for the World Bank and other major financial institutions; we must pursue bold steps, both at home and through our investments abroad, to avoid the most disastrous impacts of the climate crisis. That means that our financial institutions must stop investing in the destruction of our Earth, end financing for fossil fuels, and instead invest in clean, secure, sustainable alternatives.

And it’s more than just our environment that’s at stake. Global security depends on clean, reliable energy. We can never be energy independent if we depend on fossil fuels that tie us to a boom and bust cycle dictated by the global market, OPEC, and fossil fuel-funded autocrats like Vladimir Putin. We must not lock future generations around the world into more reliance on these dangerous fuels, and the best way to ensure that is to launch a Marshall Plan for clean energy and end the world’s planet-killing addiction to fossil fuels.

That’s why my bill with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act (SIFI Act) is vital for solving our energy crisis. This legislation would advance the shift to a clean energy economy by aligning the United States’ role in the IFIs to end support of new fossil fuel activity.

President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad took the bold step of requiring the U.S. Treasury Department to develop a strategy for how the voice and vote of the United States can be used in the IFIs, like the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led to the U.S. Treasury Department’s updated energy financing guidance released last summer.

These are welcome first steps, but we need to go well beyond them if we’re going to have a chance at making meaningful progress. The U.S. is a key — if not the key — partner in these banks. Our influence can determine the direction of their investments for years to come.

The SIFI Act builds upon current U.S. policy and the updated Treasury guidance. It would require U.S. representatives at the IFIs, like the World Bank, to champion clean energy and climate change mitigation and oppose any financial or technical assistance to any country or entity to create new capacity for fossil fuel activity. It would also restrict United States’ foreign assistance to support fossil fuel activity through entities such as the Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation.EPA must provide certainty for low-carbon fuels In 2023 and beyondBiden’s debt forgiveness misses targets

These are necessary actions to ensure that our development finance institutions end support of new fossil fuel activity and instead invest in green alternatives. We cannot afford to only invest pennies in clean options while taxpayer dollars continue to disproportionately support fossil fuels.

We must heed the warnings of scientists worldwide and call on leaders to start working now to make drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions before it’s too late for our climate and our planet. I urge my colleagues to work with me to pass the Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act and continue to use our power as a leader to call on the IFIs to end financing for fossil fuels, and instead invest in clean, secure, sustainable alternatives.

Jared Huffman is the U.S. representative from California’s 2nd District.

WHITE SUPREMACY IN RURAL ALBERTA

Accused in killing of 2 Métis hunters admits destroying evidence, lying to RCMP

A  man accused of fatally shooting two Métis hunters in Alberta in 2020 spent the night following the killings destroying evidence, including cutting up the rifle used in the attack, an Edmonton trial heard Thursday.


© Jim Stokes

Anthony Bilodeau, 33, spent two days testifying in his own defence at an Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench second-degree murder trial. His father Roger Bilodeau is co-accused.

Janice Johnston - Yesterday
cbc.ca

Anthony Bilodeau also admitted lying to RCMP three days later and denied causing their deaths.

Bilodeau, 33, and his father, 58-year-old Roger Bilodeau, are on trial in Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench. Both are charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the March 27, 2020 killings of Jacob Sansom, 39, and Sansom's uncle, Maurice Cardinal, 57.

Sansom and Cardinal died at a remote intersection outside the village of Glendon, 215 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Anthony Bilodeau was on the witness stand all day Wednesday and again on Thursday morning, testifying in his own defence.

Court has previously heard that Sansom and Cardinal had spent March 27, 2020 moose hunting, then socializing with friends.

Two of Roger Bilodeau's younger children have testified that they were worried and suspicious when a blue pickup turned into their driveway that night, just outside Glendon.

Court has also heard that Roger Bilodeau and his then-16-year-old son Joseph decided to chase the vehicle. While driving at speeds that reached 152 km/h, Roger called Anthony and asked him to bring a gun.

Under questioning from his defence lawyer, Anthony Bilodeau portrayed himself, his father and brother as victims who acted in self-defence.

He told the jury his father called him at 9:46 p.m. to say, "We caught the thieves. They came back. You've got to get over here."

Bilodeau told defence lawyer Brian Beresh that his father told him to bring a gun, "just in case." He said he was alarmed, so he rushed out of the house, grabbed a rifle and ammunition and tried to catch up

On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Jordan Kerr challenged Bilodeau about joining the pursuit.

"You could have told him, 'Dad, this is ridiculous. Pull over and call the police,'" Kerr said. "There were any number of places along that range road where they could have just pulled over and stopped."

Bilodeau agreed, but said he felt he needed to protect his family.

"Against what?" Kerr asked. "A vehicle that was driving away from them?"
Shots fired

Bilodeau told Beresh Wednesday that his fear grew as he raced toward the location. He said he was still on the phone with his father and brother when he heard a window being smashed and his brother screaming.

"It was at the top of his lungs," he testified. "It made the hair on your neck stand up. Then I heard a man's voice say, 'Go get a knife so I can kill these f--kers.'"

He said he was worried he wasn't going to get to the scene in time after he heard his little brother begging someone not to kill his dad.

"I was devastated," Bilodeau said. "I was wiping tears on the way there."

He said that when he arrived, he saw a man standing outside his father's open truck door. The man had both hands around his father's neck, he said.

The prosecutor challenged that claim, based on distance and darkness.

"You didn't see anyone choking your dad," Kerr said. "That's another lie you told, right?"

"Absolutely not," Bilodeau replied.

"But you're putting bullets in your gun," Kerr said. "You've already made the decision you're going to get out with a loaded gun."

Bilodeau admitted that he loaded the rifle in five seconds, then got out of his truck and loudly racked his weapon in what he agreed was a show of force.

"Did you consider that getting out of that truck with a loaded gun might really escalate the situation?" Kerr asked.

"I thought it might de-escalate the situation," Bilodeau responded. "These men were already threatening to kill my family."

Bilodeau told the jury that Jacob Sansom approached him unarmed, with his fists clenched.

During direct examination, he said he backed up when he thought Sansom was trying to grab his gun.

But during cross-examination, he admitted Sansom never touched his gun or laid a hand on him.

"And you shot him in the chest about 20 seconds after you got out of your truck," Kerr said.

"He said he was going to kill me," Bilodeau responded.

"I'm going to suggest to you that's a lie," the prosecutor shot back.

"Absolutely not," said Bilodeau.

"The reality is you were angry when you shot him in the chest, right?" Kerr said.

"Absolutely not," Bilodeau repeated.
No shots fired at accused

Bilodeau testified that immediately after he shot Sansom, he racked his gun to get the next shot ready, but his gun jammed.

He said Maurice Cardinal was approaching him, holding a gun and threatening to kill him, so he ran toward a ditch.

"I turned around and he still had his gun pointed at me," Bilodeau told his lawyer, adding that he asked the other man to please put his gun down.

"I managed to un-jam my gun and then I yelled again, 'We just want to talk,'" he testified.

Bilodeau fired his weapon, then reloaded and ran up to the other men's truck.

"Then I shot twice. Quickly. One after the other," he said.

During cross-examination, Bilodeau admitted that Cardinal fell to the ground after he fired a second shot. He said he didn't see the other man holding a gun when he took the final two shots.

RCMP found the gun in the back seat of the truck. There was no clip in the weapon.

"You knew [Cardinal] was a witness, right?" Kerr challenged. "You knew he had seen you shoot Mr. Sansom, right?

"You went back and shot him a third time to make sure he was dead, right?"

"Absolutely not," Bilodeau responded. He said that even after he'd been shot three times, Cardinal was still threatening to kill him.

"You're lying," Kerr said. "He was physically incapable of saying that.

"He was dying."
'Deliberate, calculated lies'

Bilodeau admitted in court that when he got home he began destroying evidence. He removed distinctive lights from the front of his truck to change the vehicle's appearance.

He cut his .30-30 rifle into four or five pieces, put them in a box and wrapped the box in a garbage bag, then drove to a dumpster 20 minutes away to get rid of the bag. He dumped the lights in a different location.

When he was questioned by RCMP on March 31, 2020, he lied about the truck lights and didn't mention owning a .30-30 rifle.

Bilodeau also said he was in bed on that Friday night and had nothing to do with Sansom and Cardinal's deaths.

"You were telling all these deliberate, calculated lies because in your own mind, you knew what you were doing wasn't lawful," Kerr said. "You knew you weren't acting in self-defence."

Again, Bilodeau answered, "Absolutely not."

He had the same response to the Crown's final question during cross-examination.

"The reality is you and your father decided to take the law into your own hands and chase these men, right?"

"Absolutely not," Bilodeau testified.

The trial continues.

PUSHED OR JUMPED

French financier commits suicide while touring $2.3m New York apartment

The French businessman also had properties in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side

Johanna Chisholm

Charles-Henry Kurzen reportedly fell from the 32nd floor of 100 United Nations Plaza in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of New York City on Thursday afternoon, according to a police spokesperson.
(Youtube/video screengrab)

A French financier reportedly asked a real estate agent if he could view the balcony of a luxury New York apartment he was viewing before he died by apparent suicide.

A police spokesperson confirmed to the New York Post that Charles-Henry Kurzen, 43, was viewing a unit at 100 United Nations Plaza on the 32nd floor in Midtown at around 1:15pm on Thursday afternoon and was later found on the third-floor patio below.

The French businessman, who had moved to Brooklyn from Paris over two decades ago, had reportedly asked the real estate agent if he could view the balcony of the $2.9m unit before he reportedly jumped from the balcony and fell to his death, source told the New York Post.

The Independent reached out to the New York Police Department for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The 43-year-old had properties in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and a separate apartment on the Lower East Side, both valued at around $1m, according to public records.

The 52-floor luxury complex at 100 United Nations Plaza has apartments listed that can fetch for anywhere between $1m to $3.5m.

Mr Kurzen, a graduate of the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) Business School, was a partner at Saltbox Partners LLC, a New York-based finance firm, and had several years experience working in the banking sector before moving to the US, according to the company website.

A New Yorker article from 2004 about French businessmen, who created a bi-weekly gathering in an effort to maintain good relations with their American counterparts following the US invasion of Iraq (France vetoed a United Nations resolution in favour of war against Iraq, a move that splintered relations between the two nations in the years following), quoted then-25-year-old Mr Kurzen, who attended these “French Tuesdays”.

The French financier was apparently attempting to garner the attention of New Zealand supermodel Rachel Hunter, who rebuffed his attempts, according to the article.

When asked by the magazine why he was so determined to meet the supermodel, who at the time was still married to Rod Stewart, now her ex-husband, the young Frenchman said the then-34-year-old Hunter was a “beautiful, mature woman; a woman of character, a woman of history, a woman who has lived!”

 Klaatu Barada Nikto

 

"Klaatu barada nikto" is a phrase originating in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. The humanoid alien protagonist of the film, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), commanded Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) that, were anything to happen to him she must say the phrase to the robot Gort (Lockard Martin). In response Gort relented from destroying the Earth and resurrected Klaatu from death.

Scientists are studying whether Cold War-era photos of the night sky contain clues of alien life

A series of telescope photographs from the 1950s reveal unusually regular patterns of flickering lights in the sky

By MATTHEW ROZSA
PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2022 4:26PM (EDT

UFO flying toward Earth (Getty Images)

On a single photographic plate from April 12, 1950, nine dots of light appear in a row in the night sky. To an uninformed eye, they appear unremarkable, perhaps nothing more than technical errors. Yet this particular photographic plate was produced as part of a larger project to photograph the night sky from California's Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. When lights appear and then disappear without explanation, they are known as transients, and astronomers seek explanations.

This is especially true as UFO sightings have become both more frequent and more effectively documented. Indeed, a group of scientists is arguing that the nine lights of these plates — which were taken seven years before the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into space — could be evidence of extraterrestrial life. (Emphasis on could: there is nothing definitive that says these are alien craft.)

RELATED: Why Tucker Carlson loves UFOs: Jason Colavito on the hidden links between conspiracy theories  \ 

FOR THE SAME REASON RT/SPUTNIK/SIBERIAN NEWS LOVES UFO'S

"Their presence supports searches for other, clearer signatures of potential debris and satellites in orbits around Earth," a research team led by Stockholm University's Beatriz Villarroel wrote in a recent paper for the scientific journal Acta Astronautica. "The best way to search them, is obviously by looking at images taken before human-made objects were sent to orbit the GEOs." (GEOs is a shorthand term for geosynchronous Earth orbit, meaning satellites that orbit in the ring around Earth above the equator and move at the same rate that Earth rotates such that they appear at fixed points in the sky to an Earth-bound observer.)

The number of transients in these photographic plates, the authors write, is "far higher than expected" from known natural phenomena that exhibit similar behavior.

This is not the only paper on the subject written by Villarroel and her team. They note that the objects in the old photos could not be asteroids or meteors, as they would either be too dark to show up or appear like streaks. After some research, they confirmed that the lights could not have been caused by airplanes or other astrophysical explanations. Since man-made satellites didn't exist at that point, another explanation could have been nuclear testing. But, to the best of our knowledge, that was not happening at the time and place where the plates were taken.

This is why, in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports last year, Villarroel and her team explain precisely why the lights in this particular plate are so intriguing to them.

The number of transients in these photographic plates, the authors write, is "far higher than expected" from known natural phenomena that exhibit similar behavior in photographs, such as "flaring dwarf stars, Fast Radio Bursts, Gamma Ray Bursts or microlensing events."

They concede that the lights could have been caused by contamination in the plates themselves, and would therefore be technical artifacts rather than anything otherworldly. Yet "if contamination as an explanation can be fully excluded, another possibility is fast solar reflections from objects near geosynchronous orbits," the authors add. They also suggest comparing images from another sky survey done in the 1950s to see if that one also shows multiple transient objects appearing all in a line.

In a paper published last month to the pre-print server arXiv.org, Villarroel and her team explained that the transients are scientifically significant even if they do not have an extraterrestrial origin. As the scientists explained in the conclusion of that paper, "there are still uncertainties that preclude a definite answer even if the authenticity of the transients eventually is confirmed, and one of these is to fully understand the phenomenology behind simultaneously appearing and disappearing point sources, that may originate in a entirely different process." In other words, these old images of flickering objects are definitely still weird by today's standards, and could yield new astronomy discoveries regardless.

These papers follow a recent trend in which serious politicians and scientists have become more openly curious about the question as to whether extraterrestrial intelligence may have ever visited Earth. Earlier this month, a congressional hearing on UFOs revealed that UFO sightings have become increasingly common among military personnel. As Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray explained, "Since the early 2000s, we have seen an increasing number of unauthorized and or identified aircraft or objects in military-controlled training areas and training ranges, and other designated airspace reports of sightings are frequent and continuing." There are a number of possible mundane explanations for these UFO sightings, from natural atmospheric phenomena and atmospheric clutter to secret government technology programs.

Meanwhile, declassified Pentagon documents that were revealed to the public in April showed that the U.S. Department of Defense had conducted a program monitoring reports of human encounters from 2007 to 2012. These documents revealed, among other things, that people who alleged UFO encounters frequently displayed similar symptoms: Heart ailments, sleep disturbances, and symptoms consistent with exposure to electromagnetic radiation (such as burns). Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has also been outspoken about the fact that companies which comprise the military-industrial complex have UFO fragments.

"I was told for decades that Lockheed had some of these retrieved materials," Reid told The New Yorker last year. "And I tried to get, as I recall, a classified approval by the Pentagon to have me go look at the stuff. They would not approve that. I don't know what all the numbers were, what kind of classification it was, but they would not give that to me."

For more Salon articles on UFOs:Former Sen. Harry Reid: I was told Lockheed Martin had UFO crash fragments

Scientists discovered a radio signal from the nearest star and want to know if it's from aliens

Why do smart people lie about alien encounters?

MATTHEW ROZSA is a staff writer for Salon. He holds an MA in History from Rutgers University-Newark and is ABD in his PhD program in History at Lehigh University. His work has appeared in Mic, Quartz and MSNBC.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (4/5) Movie CLIP - Klaatu's Speech (1951) HD

There are billions of galaxies and planets but only one world

28 May 2022 01:18 am - 

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With Sri Lanka’s worst ever ‘Aragalaya’ or public revolt continuing for its 50th day with large crowds gathering at the GotaGoGama or Galle Face Green to demand the resignation of the Rajapaksa Government and the abolition of the executive presidential system, Sri Lanka is not able to give top priority to a key issue that could destroy the world. The battle against climate change—which former United States’ President Donald Trump described as a Chinese hoax—the world gave less attention to this vital issue but the new US President Joe Biden is making every effort to get democratic countries involved in this battles of battles.  

On June 5, the United Nations marks World Environment Day and in a statement the world body says, “Only One world: In the universe are billions of galaxies, in our galaxy are billions of planets, but there is only one earth, let’s take care of it.”  

In Sri Lanka, families or individuals may tend to think there is little we could do to get involved effectively in the battle against climate change. There is much we could do. For instance, with power cuts disrupting our lives, we could switch off unnecessary bulbs and reduce the use of other electrical equipment such as television and FM radio stations. Independent world political analysts say that though the then US President George Bush launched a massive “shock and awe” war against Iraq after the terrorists attack on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon, the bigger aim was to gain control of oil resources in Iraq and Syria. Now US companies control some of the biggest oil companies and that is why prices have soared to their highest levels in history—more than three times what we paid last year.  

Regarding clean drinking water, world analysts say that in next three decades the big powers including the US, Russia and China may go to war to get control of the world’s drinking water resources. Sri Lanka possibly would be a target because we have more than 100 rivers including 12 major rivers. Therefore we need to save water even in small ways. As the saying goes, little drops of water make the mighty ocean. For instance, when washing our hands, we need to open the taps only half way or less. When washing rice, vegetables or fruits, we need to collect the excess water in pans or buckets and use it to water the plants. As far as possible, we need to stop using fresh drinking water to wash our vehicles. We could also plant a few trees in our home garden. Some civic minded citizens have also cut down their daily shower times from five to 10 minutes. Some enterprising citizens have also installed rain water harvesting equipment on their roofs. This is collected in big tubs and the second rain is so pure that garages are known to use it as battery water.  

In a statement the UN says the earth faces a triple planetary emergency: The climate is heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt, habitat loss and other pressures mean an estimated 1 million species are threatened with extinction, pollution continues to poison our air, land 
and water.   

The way out of this dilemma is to transform our economies and societies to make them inclusive, fair and more connected with nature. We must shift from harming the planet to healing it.The good news is the solutions and the technology exist and are increasingly affordable. #OnlyOneEarth is the campaign for World Environment Day this year. It calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet. 

 
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on June 5 since 1974, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world. This year it is hosted by Sweden. “Only One Earth” was the slogan for the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. This put sustainable development on the global agenda and led to the establishment of World Environment Day. Fifty years later, Sweden is hosting Stockholm+50 from 2nd to 3rd June.   

Leonardo DiCaprio, the main actor in the box office film “Titanic” has said raising awareness on the most pressing environmental issues of our time is more important than ever. One of the world’s greatest statesmen Mahatma Gandhi has warned the earth provides enough to satisfy every person’s needs, but not some person’s greed.”  

FREE SPEECH
Obscenity (Including as to Minors) and "the Work Taken as a Whole"

An isolated sexually themed passage, even a graphic one, doesn't make a work obscene.


EUGENE VOLOKH | 5.27.2022 

REASON MAGAZINE

The Court of Mist and Fury / Gender Queer controversy is a good opportunity to note an important legal principle: Under modern American law, a work can only be "obscene" and therefore constitutionally unprotected—or "obscene as to minors," and therefore constitutionally unprotected when distributed to minors—if it's basically pornographic taken as a whole.

"A quotation from Voltaire in the flyleaf of a book will not constitutionally redeem an otherwise obscene publication." The rule once seemed to be that, "to be smut, it must be utterly without redeeming social importance," but that is no longer so.

But, conversely, a few sexual scenes in a work likewise don't make a publication obscene. The question is whether its dominant theme appeals to the "prurient interest," which is to say a "shameful or morbid" interest in sex. (The government must also show that the work is patently offensive under contemporary community standards, and that, taken as a whole, it lacks serious value.) Even Justice Scalia, who was open to pretty substantial restrictions on pornographic material, acknowledged this:

[In our obscenity precedents], we rejected the approach previously adopted by some courts, which would permit the banning of an entire literary work on the basis of one or several passages that in isolation could be considered obscene. Instead, we said, "the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole" must appeal to prurient interest.

(He in turn was quoting Roth v. United States (1957), which was modified in some measure by Miller v. California (1973); but, as Justice Scalia noted, Miller only added extra elements the government must show beyond this "dominant theme" constitutional requirement.) And the same applies to obscene-as-to-minors material.

Now this isn't so for all First Amendment exceptions. Someone can be prosecuted for possessing child pornography even if that's an isolated picture within a broader work. Likewise, someone can be sued (or prosecuted) for libel based on a libelous statement in a mostly nonlibelous work.

But when it comes to the obscenity exception, the law is settled: Isolated pornographic passages don't make a work punishable.

EUGENE VOLOKH is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any educational institution.

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